How I Market Your House

Not all houses are the same, so there will be some differences from house to house, but below are the basics that apply to all my listings- from the $50K fixer to the million dollar home.

Quality photos - On occasion I call in a professional photographer with a drone, but I don't see that much of a difference between his photos and mine, so I am in the process of purchasing a drone

Complete listing in the MLS- This may sound basic, and it is, but surprisingly many of listings in the MLS are incomplete and with poorly written descriptions.

Custom ads on my highly trafficed web site. My site at www.JackieHawley.com brings in a lot of traffic. My ads are not just what is pulled from the MLS. I write complete ads and load it with photos.

Facebook- I use Facebook a bit differently than most agents. I post the ad from my web site to my Facebook business page. I joined several groups such as Orion buy/sell, homes for sale groups, groups for hunters, etc. Once the ad posts to my business page I post it to the appropiate groups

Linked In- I don't use Linked In to look for a job. I connected to hundreds of people who live or work in my market area- teachers, shop workers, doctors, etc. I post an ad to Linked In for the over 1200 people I'm linked to

Quality flyers left at the house. They are for prospective buyers to take when they are viewing the house. It lists everything about the house and property. There is usually more about the house than the MLS has room for. If the house is in Oakland County I include an aerial with the property lines delineated in red. I also include area parks/state land/etc. Whatever is appropiate for a particular house

Info box flyers. One page color flyers in a box on the for sale sign. I start with 35 or so flyers and add more when it gets low. The first batch usually get taken by nosey neighbors; which is ok. Neighbors may have friends who want to live in the area.

For Lapeer County homes I advertise in the LA View. I have a contract with the local newspaper to run and ad monthly

YouTube- I have a YouTube channel at www.JackieHawleyRealtor.com. I make videos of my listings as well as area videos. I use the area videos to draw in more viewers for my listing videos. I post my listing videos on my blog which posts to Facebook and Linked In

Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc. Everybody's listings post to these sites. I go in to Zillow and Realtor.com and change the ads so they don't read like the MLS.

Selling a lifestyle. A house is a house- basically. Most people are buying a lifestyle, whether that is living on a lake or golf course, a subdivision, near parks, out in the country..... So I have set up pages on my site (and continously adding pages) to showcase different lifestyles. Lakefront pages are optimized to show up on lakefront Google searches. I showcase my active lakefront listings on those pages. I am in the process of making golf course pages- a generic page as well as for specific golf courses.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization. When I write ads for Zillow or Realtor.com I consider the key words I want the ad to show up for in a Google search. I do the same with pages on my web site. How do I determine the words I optimize for? Google has a key word search tool where I can determine how often certain words or phrases are searched. Example- Lake Orion MI is searched more often than Lake Orion Michigan. More people search for hunting property than wooded property. So when I write an ad, I write it for the consumer as well as for Google

Service

Service may not be considered a part of marketing by some, but I think it's close enough to merrit being included on this page. As far as marketing goes, answering my phone when I can, and returning calls quickly when I can't answer, increases my chances of showing the house when someone calls off an ad. When they call on my ads, they are calling other Realtors on their ads, too. Everybody is going to push their own listing harder. So I do what I can to show (and sell) my own listings. I answer the phone when I can. I won't interrupt someone to answer the phone- that is rude. But if I'm just working at the computer or something along those lines, I answer the phone when it rings. When I can't answer, I return calls as quickly as possible.

Other areas I supply good service:

I am not one of those agents who list your house and you never hear from me until it is due to expire. I try to get feedback after showings and pass that feedback along to you. If there are no showings for a couple weeks, I will call you to discuss possibilities as to why there were no showings and to let you know I haven't forgotten about you

I communicate in whatever manner you prefer- text, phone call or email. Or a combination.

Once we accept an offer, I keep you updated through the process- from the home inspection, to the appraisal, the mortgage process..... This time frame of the listing is when you probably talk to me the most. I check on the mortgage at least weekly, and I let you know what I learn. I check with the other agent after the home inspection, I send a spread sheet with comparable sales to the appraiser and let you know when the appraiser wants into the house and check with the lender starting a few days after the appraiser has been out. I keep you updated throughout this process. When we are able to set a closing date, I call and remind you to get the utilities changed over if you are giving immediate possession. I follow up after sending you the closing docs to see if you have any questions and if you would like me to meet with you to go over it in person. By the time we close you will probably be sick of hearing my voice!

When you call me that you are low on flyers, I get new flyers to you within a day or two

When we get an offer I can email the offer to you or meet you in person to go over the offer- whichever way works best for you

I am almost always on time. It is a rarity that I will show up late for an appointment.

And there are a whole lot of sites most of our personal web sites aggregate to- sites you either never heard of. Or sites you would never think to go to, to buy a home (or real estate of any nature)- overstock.com, bobvilla.com and even espn.com.

So you ask: Why is “extensive internet exposure” important if everybody’s listings go to the same sites, with the majority of those sites just there to pad viewing stats?

Good question, Grasshopper. There are a handful of sites that are important to be on. Those sites include the ones listed at the top (Zillow, et al), Realtor.com, ColdwellBanker.com and my highly trafficked sites.

So now it comes down to two basic items that separate my internet marketing from most other agents. First is the quality of the ads. I use quality photos, lots of them, and good ad copy.

Second is the quality of the buyer my sites are optimized to attract. My web sites are optimized, and blog posts are written, to attract buyers who are looking in my market area. It does no good to have buyers looking for a house in Traverse City to visit any of my sites or blogs.

Web Presence

This web site, as well as my blogs, all have an excellent web presence. I periodically check different search terms and often find this web site and maybe a blog post or two on page one. I optimize the site and blogs for relevant search terms- terms determined after extensive research on Google's key word search tool. I update my research a couple times per year and make changes when appropriate.

How does this help sell your house? This site for the most part appears to be designed for home buyers- listings displayed on many of the pages. Search the MLS linked all over the place in an attempt to entice potential home buyers into performing their home searches on my site, and if I'm lucky they will register and save a search or two. Potential buyers for your house. The more buyers we can attract, the better chance we have of finding a buyer for your property.

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